[FM Discuss] Possible collaboration with Floss Manuals
adam hyde
adam at flossmanuals.net
Fri Aug 7 13:17:30 PDT 2009
hey
concerning the outline - i think this project it should be a bit of
both...create a draft outline then reform it as people join
but maybe an inspiring outline would be good to kick it off
adam
On Fri, 2009-08-07 at 15:27 -0400, Andy Oram wrote:
> The educational work is ongoing; a lot of people have been doing it for some time. I don't have much hope of reaching the "soccer mom" unengaged public. What I see is that someone gets interested in some other topic that's related to what she wants to do, then discovers open source. For instance, a school administrator is facing a big collection of old computers that can't be upgraded to Vista--and looking around for a solution, discovers Linux.
>
> Or an artist who's frustrated that his favorite software package just tripled in price, and removed a key feature he was depending on, starts looking at open solutions. And maybe discovers Creative Commons along the way.
>
> There are already commercial books that reach out to business executives, and books on "how to switch." I don't think those books sell very well. But I think FLOSS does need a succinct "this is what it is and why it's good" description, and that it should be free.
>
> I'll contact some people over the weekend who might be interested. Is anyone making up an outline? What's the current thinking on that: authors first and outline second, or outline first and authors second?
>
> Andy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Lake" <steve.lake at raiden.net>
> To: "Andy Oram" <andyo at oreilly.com>, discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
> Sent: Friday, August 7, 2009 2:32:30 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Re: [FM Discuss] [Fwd: Re: [FM PR] Possible collaboration with Floss Manuals]
>
> Well, advocacy is part of it. Most of what I was after is "what
> is it" followed by "what can it do for you?" So yeah, it's advocacy to a
> degree. But I wanted to focus first on telling them what it was, then once
> they know that, move over to how it can benefit them.
>
> It's like telling someone who's never seen a car, nor has any idea
> what one is that a car is very useful to them. First inform them of what a
> car is, THEN explain how it can benefit them. ;) See my logic here? Most
> of the people I'm targeting are what I jokingly like to call "soccer
> moms". (That's football for our European members. hehe) IE, computers,
> software and operating systems are the last thing on their mind. So we
> have to first explain to them what they are so they're on equal footing
> with us when we get to the important part, why it's best for them.
>
> At 01:39 PM 8/7/2009 -0400, Andy Oram wrote:
> >Are you focusing on advocacy--teaching people how to explain the benefits
> >of free software and ease the transition to it? If so, I can pull together
> >some people I've talked to about that in Europe and Latin America. And
> >even North America.
> >
> >Andy
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "adam hyde" <adam at flossmanuals.net>
> >To: "floss" <discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net>
> >Cc: "Steve Lake" <steve.lake at raiden.net>
> >Sent: Friday, August 7, 2009 10:51:37 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> >Subject: [FM Discuss] [Fwd: Re: [FM PR] Possible collaboration with Floss
> >Manuals]
> >
> >hi,
> >
> >This is an email discussion (see below) between myself and Steve Lake of
> >Raidens Realm (http://raiden.net/) about a course he is starting. Steve
> >has been a great supporter of FM and is looking to work with us to
> >develop a textbook about free software. I suggested perhaps we bring
> >this discussion to the FM list...
> >
> >It would be super if we could design and create a text book with steve
> >for his course....anyone keen?
> >
> >(please cc Steve in replies)
> >
> >adam
> >
> >-------- Forwarded Message --------
> >From: Steve Lake <steve.lake at raiden.net>
> >To: adam at flossmanuals.net, pr at lists.flossmanuals.net
> >Subject: Re: [FM PR] Possible collaboration with Floss Manuals
> >Date: Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:37:42 -0400
> >
> >Nope, didn't have any specific books, as I'm still in the
> >beginning stages of this. But I was hoping that when we were done, we
> >could have a generic intro course that could be taught in 2-5 hours
> >(depending on how much time someone had to do the course) to help us Linux
> >and FOSS enthusiasts, especially those without teaching ability, to be able
> >to go out, inform the public, and make sure they know that there's choices
> >out there, and what some of those are. Because the more they know, the
> >better.
> >
> > From there, if they were curious enough to continue, a selection
> >of books could be given to them to get them started learning Linux and FOSS
> >apps, the latter dependent on what they need. I could easily add a list at
> >the end of the course that says, "for more info on subject x or y, go to
> >floss manuals and get this and this book." So basically this would benefit
> >you guys by first getting them in the door, and then handing them off to
> >you for further educating.
> >
> > I do however like the idea that you guys are developing actual
> >course books. That sounds quite exciting and interesting. How big of a
> >course do you expect these books to be? A full 14 week course, or
> >something that could be done in an afternoon or a week at most?
> >
> >At 08:37 PM 8/6/2009 +0200, adam hyde wrote:
> > >hey Steve,
> > >
> > >I dont want to any individual but i think FM in general is interested in
> > >developing Text Books. We have recently been in touch with Goldsmiths
> > >(Graham Harwood and Matthew Fuller) to see if there is a possibility to
> > >develop course books with them.
> > >
> > >It seems this is a possibility. so, we are already on the path and any
> > >possible collaboration is a good idea.
> > >
> > >For your project did you have any specific books in mind?
> > >
> > >also, do you know this:
> > >http://teachingopensource.org/index.php/Main_Page
> > >
> > >
> > >adam
> > >
> > >On Thu, 2009-08-06 at 10:14 -0400, Steve Lake wrote:
> > > > http://forums.raiden.net/viewtopic.php?t=21911
> > > >
> > > > Thought that might interest you guys. I'm starting a project to
> > > > develop a Linux and FOSS education and training course. Something that
> > > > could be put into the hands of just any joe and used to introduce people
> > > > Linux and FOSS. I'd love to see if you guys could help out with
> > > developing
> > > > a course like this, and in return we could put it into book form for sale
> > > > in the FLOSS manuals bookstore. The goal of the project is to introduce
> > > > them to Linux and FOSS, get them in the door so to speak, and get them
> > > > interested in learning more.
> > > >
> > > > It's an education focused approach to promoting FOSS and Linux
> > > > designed to replace the old elitist "RTFM" and Evangelistic approaches
> > > > currently used today. You guys are great at writing and developing help
> > > > guides, manuals, and the like, so I figured if you wanted to jump in and
> > > > help, we could easily toss a whole bunch of Floss manuals and book
> > > > references into the project too in order to help you guys in return. :)
> > > >
> > > > Whatcha say? Interested?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Steven Lake
> > > > Owner/Chief Editor
> > > > Raiden's Realm
> > > > www.raiden.net
> > > > Bringing Linux to the World
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > pr mailing list
> > > > pr at lists.flossmanuals.net
> > > > http://lists.flossmanuals.net/listinfo.cgi/pr-flossmanuals.net
> > >--
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Discuss mailing list
> >Discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
> >http://lists.flossmanuals.net/listinfo.cgi/discuss-flossmanuals.net
> >
> >--
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Andy Oram O'Reilly Media email: andyo at oreilly.com
> >Editor 10 Fawcett Street, Fourth Floor voice: 617-499-7479
> > Cambridge, MA 02138-1175, USA fax: 617-661-1116
> > identi.ca/twitter:praxagora http://www.praxagora.com/andyo/
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Steven Lake
> Owner/Chief Editor
> Raiden's Realm
> www.raiden.net
> Bringing Linux to the World
>
>
>
> --
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Andy Oram O'Reilly Media email: andyo at oreilly.com
> Editor 10 Fawcett Street, Fourth Floor voice: 617-499-7479
> Cambridge, MA 02138-1175, USA fax: 617-661-1116
> identi.ca/twitter:praxagora http://www.praxagora.com/andyo/
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
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> Discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
> http://lists.flossmanuals.net/listinfo.cgi/discuss-flossmanuals.net
--
Adam Hyde
Founder FLOSS Manuals
German mobile : + 49 15 2230 54563
Email : adam at flossmanuals.net
irc: irc.freenode.net #flossmanuals
"Free manuals for free software"
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